SCIENTIFIC AUTOBIOGRAPHY

I received an invitation in July 2022 — to write “my scientific autobiography,” to be published in the 2024 issue of Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology (APRT). The rules involved a “20-page maximum, which should include proposed figures and tables.”

My original draft was submitted at the end of Jan 2023; exactly 20-page limit. Each draft was peer-reviewed (by I don’t know how many people) multiple times, and I kept receiving comments: “Let’s talk less about this, and expand more about that.” “Please add a ‘family origins’ section at the start.” “You must add a ‘Legacy’ section.” “Did you plan your career?” “What future directions do you suggest for each of your projects?” “What fundamental pharmacological and toxicological rules did you learn over your 50-year career?”

For each question, my initial response was “Then, I’ll have to delete something in order to add that section to my article.” Their reply was “Go ahead and just add the section; we <> give you some wiggle room (beyond that initially-proposed 20-page limit).” 2023 was a roller-coaster year of additions, modifications, and subtractions, but the preprint was completed in Oct, and then this Jan 2024 final is considerably modified further and updated from that preprint (total pages of my article spills over onto page 26). The attached also includes Table of Contents of the 600+ page 2024 volume, plus a list of “Related Articles.”

Only one or two invited scientific autobiographies are planned for each year in the ARPT, so this has been quite a special honor. 😊😊

DwN